1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light generating device and a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus having the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a light generating device having improved characteristics and an LCD apparatus having the same.
2. Discussion of the Background
Generally, an LCD apparatus is a flat panel display apparatus that displays an image using a liquid crystal. Since the LCD apparatus may be thin and it does not consume a lot of power, it has been widely used in various fields.
The LCD apparatus is a non-emissive display apparatus. Hence, it may include a backlight assembly that generates light.
A conventional backlight assembly includes a tubular-shaped cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) as a light source. The backlight assembly having the CCFL may be classified as an edge-illumination or direct-illumination type backlight assembly. The edge-illumination type backlight assembly may include one or two light sources adjacent to a side of a transparent light guiding plate so that a light generated from each of the light sources reflects from a surface of the light guiding plate. The reflected light is incident into an LCD panel. The direct-illumination type backlight assembly may include a plurality of light sources under the LCD panel, a diffusion plate between the light sources and the LCD panel, and a reflecting plate under the light sources. Light generated from the light sources is reflected from the reflecting plate and diffused in the diffusion plate.
However, since the backlight assembly includes the light guiding plate or the diffusion plate, light loss may increase. Additionally, the backlight assembly may be complicated structurally, thereby increasing its manufacturing cost. Furthermore, its luminance uniformity may deteriorate.
A light generating device, which includes a body and an electrode, for overcoming the above-mentioned problems has been utilized. The body's internal space may be divided into a plurality of discharge spaces, and a discharge voltage may be applied to the body through the electrode. The discharge spaces may be connected to one another to normalize their internal pressure. Applying the discharge voltage to the electrode may generate a plasma discharge in the discharge spaces, thereby generating light.
When generating light in the discharge spaces, a luminance of the light generated in each of the discharge spaces adjacent to the body's side may be less than that at the body's central portion. This luminance difference may further increase when the light generating device is combined with a receiving container. Therefore, luminance uniformity may deteriorate, which deteriorates the LCD apparatus' display quality.